Throwing your survival knife?

R

rodogg

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Nov 25, 2011
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Something that always crosses my mind with survival knives is their ability to be thrown in a tight situation or whatever. So I was wondering does anyone know of a popular knife that is blade heavy and can be thrown easily? Most outdoor knives are handle heavy (at least as far as I can see), and while these CAN be thrown with a lot of practice, its only a lot of bother. I know of certain knives like the Cold Steel Tru Flight Thrower, which is a throwing knife with the potential to be used as an all round knife, but it's definitely not ideal. The Cold Steel Bushman seems to be quite throwable, so thats one possibility. Im talking about a survival/outdoor knife that can be thrown with little experience, and will hopefully hit it's target not with the handle, but with the point!

By the way I have no knife throwing knowledge or experience. :)
 
Why would you want to throw a knife when you can use it to make a spear?
 
Ocassion might occur when you dont happen to have it attached to a stick and need to throw it! :) Just a thought!
 
rodogg said:
Ocassion might occur when you dont happen to have it attached to a stick and need to throw it! :) Just a thought!
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Why? What are you throwing it at? Game? Good luck.

Risking wrecking your knife in a survival situation is bad "survival" thinking. Throw a rock or a spear you made with your knife.
 
marcinek said:
Why? What are you throwing it at? Game? Good luck.

Risking wrecking your knife in a survival situation is bad "survival" thinking. Throw a rock or a spear you made with your knife.
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And by "a spear you made with your knife" I don't mean lashing your knife to stick. That's an equally bad idea.

Sharpen the stick. Fire harden the point. Voila! Spear. Knife is safe to cut things.
 
Throwing a knife that isn't designed for it is not a good idea. They run harder then a throwing knife which means you will damage or down right break the thing in half. And the weight has little to nothing to do with it hitting tip first. In order to hit your target you need a great deal of experience throwing knives. You can't just pick one up and expect to hit your target correctly(or at all) on the first go. I really don't even consider this ability for survival knives. If you really want to be able to throw it then get the true flight thrower. It's tempered about the same as their hawks and I've found their hawks to hold a very good edge. More then adequate in a pinch.
 
If I'm throwing anything in a survival situation it's an "Apache throwing star" I made using my knife.
 
What ever happened to a good pointed stick? I'll echo that throwing your survival knife is not in the interest of self-preservation.
 
Good way to break or lose a knife. You could always use your knife to make something appropriate for throwing - like an Apache star...

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... Those things fly really well, by the way. Alternatively, you could buy a throwing knife or two to keep with you. Throwing knives are tempered to be much softer (and less prone to breakage) than knife knives.

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Beckerhead #42
 
On "Top Guns" the other night they were throwing knives, knives made for throwing. During a miss, played in slow motion, you could see the knife moving like a tuning fork. The harmonics created by that impact is what will break a harder knife.
I agree with the other guys, don't throw your survival knife. Maybe old Bowie knives were pretty soft, but not today's knives.

I can't imagine a scenario where throwing your knife would be necessary. It's not going to stop a bear, cougar, wolf, etc. You're better off stabbing them, if that's all you got, or go ahead and make a spear, just in case.
 
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GingivitisKahn said:
Good way to break or lose a knife. You could always use your knife to make something appropriate for throwing - like an Apache star...


... Those things fly really well, by the way. Alternatively, you could buy a throwing knife or two to keep with you. Throwing knives are tempered to be much softer (and less prone to breakage) than knife knives.

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Beckerhead #42
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Better idea againmost probably ;) Didnt actually realise about the throwing knives bein softer makes sense though, thanks for the tip!
 
The character John Locke on Lost throws a SOG Tiger Shark. It's not just a fake prop, too--you might find a few videos of him throwing it on YouTube.

What kind of "tight situation" would you be in where you need to throw your knife? I'm having trouble thinking of one. Not to shoot you down like some of the other posts here. I don't mind entertaining the idea, which is why I'm asking. I just can't think of any.
 
uyotg said:
The character John Locke on Lost throws a SOG Tiger Shark. It's not just a fake prop, too--you might find a few videos of him throwing it on YouTube.

What kind of "tight situation" would you be in where you need to throw your knife? I'm having trouble thinking of one. Not to shoot you down like some of the other posts here. I don't mind entertaining the idea, which is why I'm asking. I just can't think of any.
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Wellll I think it's probably only an imagination fuelled, non-realistic type of thing to be honest!! Didnt really expect how annoyed some people would get lol. But at the same time, if theres no point in throwing a knife, why do throwing knives exist? In terms of a scenario where it would be needed.. honestly cant actually think of one other than self defense right now.
 
Like many have already said, it's a terrible idea to throw a knife that isn't made specifically for throwing. Even if you use Ralph Thorn's method of no-spin throwing, you still have a rather large chance to miss completely and force a knife to bend in a way it's not supposed to. Throwing a knife into a target puts a tremendous amount of stress on a blade, and if it's not designed to cope with that stress, it will snap and you will be out a lot of money. Knife manufacturers would see it as gross negligence and abuse and therefore would not cover it under warranty. Just get a dedicated knife or other item for throwing.
 
rodogg said:
Wellll I think it's probably only an imagination fuelled, non-realistic type of thing to be honest!! Didnt really expect how annoyed some people would get lol. But at the same time, if theres no point in throwing a knife, why do throwing knives exist? In terms of a scenario where it would be needed.. honestly cant actually think of one other than self defense right now.
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Throwing knives are entirely different animals. They are relatively soft, mostly blunt, and have very simple or no handles scales. A real knife will be loaded with all kinds of stress points. If you less then nail it you will likely snap the point off, fracture the handle, or even snap the blade at the tang handle juncture.

n2s
 
rodogg said:
If theres no point in throwing a knife, why do throwing knives exist?
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The point in throwing a knife is almost purely for recreation. In a combat situation, you should only consider throwing your knife if you
A) can be sure that you will hit or at least distract your opponent and
B) have more than one knife
 
There is no survival situation where throwing your knife would ever be a good idea. Hell, there's no COMBAT situation where throwing your knife will ever be a good idea. Throwing knives are purely for recreation or sport.

I dunno, a bear might be too busy laughing at you after you bounced a knife off it's shoulder (or more realistically, missed it by a mile) to actually attack you, so it might come in handy then....
 
I often throw my cold steel kudu....and it is still good as new...so IDK what yall are talkin bout knives will break when thrown...unless your knives are all made of plastic or cheapos they should not break!
 
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